Cape Town vs Houston - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cape Town	Houston
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1231	$2240
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2814	$5311
🏠 One person rent	$681	$1275
🏘️ Family rent	$1180	$2042
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$591
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$199
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$352	$4580
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	56	100
😀 Quality of life	55	93
🏙️ Population	3.78M	2.3M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 45% less expensive than in Houston. Cities ranked 4637th and 1375th ($1231 vs $2240) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1186th in South Africa and the United States, respectively. Check South Africa vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 2 months in Houston. Cape Town ranked 5th best city to live in South Africa vs Houston ranked 15th in the United States, while ranked 6312th and 77th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cape Town vs Houston infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Houston

Prices for goods and services in Cape Town and Houston are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Cape Town	Houston
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$18.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46.4	$72
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$6.31
☕ Cappuccino	$2.15	$5.42
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.24	$2.76
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$761	$1397
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$513	$997
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1355	$2394
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$1614
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75	$133
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$207
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.4	$65.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	6.45%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1957	$2608
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$1961
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$1.24
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$28.5	$71
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.7	$21.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$0.75
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$0.93
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$3.1
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$3.58
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$4.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.62	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.36	$11.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.75	$17.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$3.77
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.51
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$3.58
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$2.71
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$2.4
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$2.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.71	$1.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.67	$3.3
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.78	$14.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$3.01
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$9.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.15	$9.36
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.66	$7.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.2	$3.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$2.19
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.3	$41.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.86	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.1	$141
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$22.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$56	$46
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$98.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$228	$1504
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4978	$23708

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1243
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$666
371 km or 231 mi	George	$857
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$946
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1005
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$746
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$814
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$988
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$861
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1304
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$784
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$598
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$650
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$901
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$762
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$948
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$808
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$833
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$904
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$637
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$637
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$706
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$984
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$940
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$668
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$607
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1082
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$890
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$985
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$984
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$892
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$927
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$857

Cities near Houston

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Pasadena	$2240
25 km or 15 mi	Pearland	$2177
25 km or 16 mi	Missouri	$2216
27 km or 17 mi	Deer Park	$2260
29 km or 18 mi	Sugar Land	$2229
32 km or 20 mi	Spring	$2094
33 km or 21 mi	Friendswood	$2155
35 km or 22 mi	La Porte	$2308
40 km or 25 mi	Baytown	$2376
41 km or 25 mi	League	$2110
42 km or 26 mi	Alvin	$2095
47 km or 29 mi	Rosenberg	$2209
48 km or 30 mi	The Woodlands	$2730
59 km or 37 mi	Texas City	$2067
62 km or 38 mi	Conroe	$1828
76 km or 47 mi	Galveston	$1948
81 km or 50 mi	Lake Jackson	$2129
108 km or 67 mi	Huntsville	$2020
126 km or 78 mi	Beaumont	$1592
129 km or 80 mi	College Station	$1900
138 km or 86 mi	Bryan	$1993
140 km or 87 mi	Port Arthur	$1881
186 km or 115 mi	Lufkin	$1883
188 km or 117 mi	Victoria	$2220
203 km or 126 mi	Sulphur	$2029
215 km or 134 mi	Lake Charles	$1975
217 km or 135 mi	Nacogdoches	$1493
229 km or 142 mi	Pflugerville	$2196
234 km or 145 mi	Austin	$2416
236 km or 146 mi	Round Rock	$2148
239 km or 149 mi	Temple	$2136
242 km or 150 mi	Kyle	$2222
242 km or 150 mi	Georgetown	$2188
247 km or 153 mi	San Marcos	$2215
249 km or 155 mi	Cedar Park	$2221
250 km or 156 mi	Seguin	$2210
254 km or 158 mi	Leander	$2241
261 km or 162 mi	Waco	$2279
262 km or 163 mi	Harker Heights	$2075
264 km or 164 mi	New Braunfels	$2233